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Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as a transformational act

Distinct values and multiple motivations among farmers and consumers

Compared
to most other wealthy countries, Norwegian producers and consumers have been somewhat
sheltered from the international market, but this has changed during the last
decades. As a
respond to this alternations, the number of Community Supported Agriculture
(CSA) farms, has
grown rapidly in Norway. This article reveals in-depth why Norwegian producers
and consumers
engage in CSA, and how CSA can be seen as a transformal act toward food system changes.
The study reveals that the Norwegian CSA producers and consumers in general
have distinct
values, and are motivated by a desire of a production and food system
safeguarding aspects
of environment, justice, health, participation and communication. For them, the
farms are an arena
for converting societal values into practical actions. The sustainable
production methods practiced
and the re-allocation of power back to the producers, consumers and local
community, are
indicating the transformal power CSA has upon the current agri-food system
regime. However,
the challenge is to up-scale this actions, and at the same time prevent
dilution of the core
values and agroecological practices that are seen in the Norwegian CSAs.